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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24755392">Eating Contest of the Eagle, Lion, and Deer</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KSalamander/pseuds/KSalamander'>KSalamander</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>One Shots- Three Houses Gap fillers [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:49:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,367</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24755392</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KSalamander/pseuds/KSalamander</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Claude ate so much he fell asleep at the feast post Battle of the Eagle and Lion. But what prompted the intake of that much food?</p><p>This is the inaugural Eating Contest of Garreg Mach.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>One Shots- Three Houses Gap fillers [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Eating Contest of the Eagle, Lion, and Deer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The dining hall was full of the smell of roast meats and vegetables with fresh bread. There was animated and enthusiastic chatter inside while Byleth looked for a place to sit. Claude had said there would be a feast, and that meant plenty of food for her to gorge on. Byleth’s thoughts trailed to what she’d eat first, then second, then...</p><p>“Someone’s hungry,” came Claude’s voice from beside her. Byleth turned her head to look at him. “I guess it’d be normal to get hungry after all you did on the battlefield. You got more knockouts than I did, but I think I could eat more than you at this feast. What do you think? Care to enter a food eating contest with me?”</p><p>“COUNT ME IN!” boomed Raphael’s voice. </p><p>“Of course you’d zone in on any conversation about food,” lamented Leonie. </p><p>“Well, that makes three of us. Now to find someone to officiate and see if there’s anyone else who’d like to join. Oh, and Teach,” Claude began while grabbing Byleth’s plate from her, “you won’t be needing this until the contest starts.” He walked around the room, first to the servants to order up the food for the contest, then he made his way among the other houses. </p><p>Byleth lingered her eyes on the Gronder Meat Skewers. Delicious fox meat. Byleth imagined how each different morsel would have just a slightly different flavor based on the cut of meat, where it had been placed on the griddle and over the fire, the ever minute differences on which spices had been slathered over that particular meat, and the interplay of magic that spilled onto each bit of meat by different chefs.</p><p>Claude, backed up by Caspar, Ingrid, Hilda, Ashe, and Mercedes, broke the reverie. “We’ll set aside this side of the table for the competitors, and the opposing side for the officiators. The main course for the premier Food Eating Contest of the Lion, Eagle, and Deer will be... the Gronder Meat Skewers!”</p><p>“Yeaaaaaah!” whooped Caspar. Followed shortly by a similar shout of triumph from Raphael, and joy from Ingrid. Byleth merely tilted her head.</p><p>Each contestant took their seat. Caspar was on the far left, next to Claude, then Byleth, then Ingrid, and Raphael at the other end. Ashe, Hilda, and Mercedes sat opposite them and readied themselves to count. Caspar and Raphael hovered their hands over the ends of the skewers in anticipation. </p><p>“Let’s start his, shall we? We’ll count the number of skewers you can eat. But you must finish the whole skewer or it doesn’t count~ On the count of 3. 1... 2... 3!” As soon as Hilda finished all manners were lost. Except for Ingrid, who maintained a dainty air while eating at fast as manners allowed. </p><p>Caspar was first to finish his plate, with Raphael finishing soon after. Leonie and Annette brought over more plates for the contest. Claude and Byleth were next to clear the first plate. With Ingrid following close after. Edelgard and Dimitri followed Leonie and Annette’s second trip to the table.</p><p>“Caspar, you must be aware that you are the sole representative of the Black Eagles. I expect you to win.” Edelgard said with a flourish. “Mmmph,” was the only reply Caspar gave, mouth full of meat and skewer.</p><p>“And I expect you to outlast these competitors, Ingrid,” Dimitri cheered on. Ingrid, however, had finished her second plate and was drinking water while contemplating how much more she could eat. </p><p>“I, uhh, might be nearing my limit. I already ate a plate of Grilled Herring and a plate of Beast Meat Teppanyaki,” Ingrid admitted.</p><p>“It’s a shame this eating contest was not announced earlier or you could have waited to start eating,” Dimitri commented.</p><p>Edelgard shot a look at Claude. “This was your plan, was it not? To let the other Houses’ competitors eat before the competition began so that the Golden Deer would have another victory.”</p><p>Claude made a non committal sound that was muffled by food. His eyes briefly made contact with Byleth’s and then he winked. Byleth wondered if Claude had prevented Raphael from eating as well, but then considered it might not make any difference as he regularly eats 5 helpings. </p><p>“That is quite underhanded, Claude,” Edelgard reproached.</p><p>Another round of plates were brought. Caspar and Raphael has cleared four plates each, while Claude and Byleth were finishing their fourth. Ingrid was halfway through her third plate when she put her hands down. </p><p>“That’s as much as I can eat. It was quite tasty.” Ingrid was the first one out. She continued to observe the others eating. The rest of the Blue Lions consoled her.</p><p>Caspar, Raphael, and Byleth continued with their eating unimpeded by the quantity of food they had consumed. Claude, however, began to slow down considerably. His eyes began to droop, and his movements sluggish.</p><p>“Doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to beat you at eating, either, huh?,” Claude spoke to no one in particular. Or, if he did say it for Byleth to hear, she couldn’t over the sound of plates clacking, the cheering, and her own chewing. “Ugh, now I’ve got a case of the sleepies.” As he spoke he curled his arms on the table in front of him and lowered his head. He managed to stay awake long enough to see another round of plates be brought for the three remaining contestants, but soon after his eyes would not remain open.</p><p>“How unbecoming,” remarked Lorenz. “Truly, Claude is not fit to lead the Golden Deer house. Professor, I request that you bring up to Lady Rhea that the House Leader position be reassigned to yours truly.”</p><p>“With your grades, I doubt that, Lorenz,” Leonie said. </p><p>“Yeah! And Claude always has lots of food when we win!” Raphael chimed.</p><p>“I’ll be back,” was all Byleth said as she stood. She began to look around for Hanneman, hoping he’d be able to move Claude to a more comfortable sleeping spot. She was quite full anyway, and she didn’t think she’d last much longer in the eating competition. Besides, that left a bit of room for dessert. </p><p>As she wandered the dining hall she overheard Raphael’s booming laughter and cheers from the other Golden Deer. The dinning hall’s permanent resident was victorious. </p><p> </p><p>————————</p><p> </p><p>Hanneman was arguing with Manuela over teaching strategies and their students’ performance. “I need your help,” was all that Byleth said, not caring that she was interrupting them.</p><p>“Oh? With what? I’d be glad to help.” Hanneman always looked forward to helping, as did Manuela. If there was a place to have been thrust into teaching, at least her colleagues were always there to help her.</p><p>“Claude’s fallen asleep. I’d like to move him somewhere he can lie down comfortably.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about that, dear. He’ll have a crick in his neck or his arm will fall asleep, but there will be no harm to let him sleep on the table. This is a daily occurrence with Linhardt,” responded Manuela. “Hmmm... why not join us for the rest of the dinner? I want to hear your opinion of how our students did. You were right there after all. I’m looking forward to hearing you tell Hanneman here how his students were the weakest of the bunch.”</p><p>“Now Manuela, I-“ Byleth didn’t pay that much attention. She’s been in this situation many times, and found it better to let them exhaust themselves and then offer her opinions of their students. She decided to stick around with them, after leaving briefly to find some Saghert and Cream. </p><p>————————</p><p>The feast was over, and the three professors decided to meet with their students to go over the battle. The (awake) students began to file out of the dinning hall and towards the classrooms. Byleth thought it a bit cruel, but then that it could be just a formality. She’d be there only briefly and then let them get their rest.</p><p>“You did enjoy yourself tonight, all things considered.“ Sothis was awake and Byleth was in for an earful as she made her way to the classroom. “And, just because you can eat that much does not mean that you should!“</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I doubt Garreg Mach has FERPA so no violation by Byleth. Or the Deer just all share their grades with each other.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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